Abstract
Some authors have suggested that environmental unpredictability, accompanied by some sort of signal for behavioral conditioning, can boost activity or foster exploratory behavior, which may increase post-release success in re-introduction programs. Thus, using white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), a vulnerable Neotropical species, as a model, we evaluated an unpredictable feeding schedule. Associating this with the effect of classical conditioning on behavioral activities, we assessed the inclusion of this approach in pre-release training protocols. The experimental design comprised predictable feeding phases (control phases: C1, C2 and C3) and unpredictable feeding phases (U1- signaled and U2- non-signaled). The animals explored more during the signaled and non-signaled unpredictable phases and during the second control phase (C2) than during the other two predictable phases (C1 and C3). The peccaries also spent less time feeding during the signaled unpredictable phase (U1) and the following control phase (C2) than during the other phases. Moreover, they spent more time in aggressive encounters during U1 than the other experimental phases. However, the animals did not show differences in the time they spent on affiliative interactions or in the body weight change during the different phases. The signaled unpredictability, besides improving foraging behavior, showing a prolonged effect on the next control phase (C2), also increased the competition for food. The signaled feeding unpredictability schedule, mimicking wild conditions by eliciting the expression of naturalistic behaviors in pre-release training, may be essential to fully prepare them for survival in the wild.
Highlights
The white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) is a Neotropical ungulate that is categorized as a vulnerable species due to overhunting and deforestation [1]
Some herds of white-lipped peccary have been kept in captive breeding centers to replace stocks lost due to hunting or deforestation impacts [1], [2], [3]
359.96188.0a 1200.06144a 1017.26457.0a 1.564.6a 133.16168.8a 24.5623.1a temporal unpredictability phases and during the second control phase (C2) than during the other two control (C1 and C3) phases (Table 1), when feed was offered at the usual feeding time and location in traditional feeders (TF)
Summary
The white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) is a Neotropical ungulate that is categorized as a vulnerable species due to overhunting and deforestation [1]. Some herds of white-lipped peccary have been kept in captive breeding centers to replace stocks lost due to hunting or deforestation impacts [1], [2], [3]. The inclusion of environmental enrichment schedules in pre-release programs can develop specific skills in captive animals that may improve their survival in the wild [4]. An enrichment program may improve the captive animals’ welfare or their allostasis - stability through change [5] -, which is related to their biological functioning; an animal in good shape in terms of welfare is in good shape to face environmental challenges. The behavioral conditioning technique has been shown to be an important tool for reinforcing desirable behaviors to prepare animals for release into the wild [6], because animals can learn how to perform behaviors that increase their fitness and are important for reproductive success [7]
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